In response to the Charlie Hebdo outrage Nick Clegg has been speaking up in support of free speech:
http://westberkslibdems.org.uk/en/article/...fend-each-otherI quite agree with him. Freedom of Expression has been quite a cause of mine because of how the Lib Dem administration at Newbury Town Council suppress the right to Freedom of Expression. Indeed, had I accepted the condition that the Lib Dem administration placed on my retaining my allotment tenancy, that I would not make any statement critical of that administration or any of the Lib Dems associated with it without first discussing my criticism with the town clerk, then I would have been evicted just for making this post. Of course the Lib Dem administration consider it a gross breach of trust that I should have disclosed the oppressive and unlawful gagging clause, and they will not now allow me to have an allotment ever again, but I see it more like the threat of the kiddie-fiddler - "this is our little secret, and you'd better not tell anyone about it".
So I find it a bit rich being lectured by Nick Clegg on the finer points of Freedom of Expression when the Lib Dem administration of Newbury Town Council suppress that supposed freedom, using the leverage of their public services to bully people into submission and designating the more persistent as "Vexatious".
It's the freedom to criticise the state that underpins accountabily, and if we accept the loss of that freedom then we can scarcely complain when the tyranny starts.